Protective device for wallets, purses and the like

ABSTRACT

A compression spring formed of a rectangular piece of spring steel and coated with a plurality of colored plastics or paints is folded into a man&#39;&#39;s wallet or the strap of a woman&#39;&#39;s purse. When a thief removes the wallet from a man&#39;&#39;s pocket or tears the woman&#39;&#39;s purse away from its strap, the spring unfolds and the colors thus exposed draw attention to the thief, causing him to drop the stolen item and permit its recovery by its rightful owner.

United States Patent 1 Filipski et al.

[ May 13, 1975 1 PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR WALLETS,

PURSES AND THE LIKE [76] Inventors: Anna M. Filipski; Roman F. Filipski, 2835 N. Damen, Chicago, [11.60618 [22] Filed: Nov. 5, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 412,697

[52] US. Cl 150/35; 150/47 [51] Int. Cl. A45c 1/06 [58] Field of Search 150/35, 38, 39, 47;

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,346,030 10/1967 Woolf ..150/47 Primary ExaminerDonald F. Norton [57] ABSTRACT A compression spring formed of a rectangular piece of spring steel and coated with a plurality of colored plastics or paints is folded into a mans wallet or the strap of a womans purse. When a thief removes the wallet from a mans pocket or tears the womans purse away from its strap, the spring unfolds and the colors thus exposed draw attention to the thief, causing him to drop the stolen item and permit its recovery by its rightful owner.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENIED HAY I 31975 V A I 0 I 4 we v4 W BRIGHTLY COLORED PLASTIC COVER SPRING STEEL FIG. 2

PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR WALLETS, PURSES AND THE LIKE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Our invention relates to the protection of menss wallets, womens purses, and other items which can be placed in a pocket or carried by a handle or strap.

It is an object of our invention to facilitate the recovery of such items, when they are stolen, by drawing attention to the person who steals them, and thereby causing such person to drop the stolen item to avoid capture and thus allowing the rightful owner to claim It.

To this end, we construct a folded compression spring out of a rectangular piece of spring steel, said spring being painted colorfully or coated with plastic of bright hues. We fold said spring into the wallet or handle or strap of the item which we wish to protect. When a thief steals the wallet from a pocket or tears the purse or other item from its strap or handle, the spring unfolds, thus exposing a long brightly colored strip. This strip attracts attention to the thief, who drops the stolen item to avoid attention and capture and allows its rightful owner to reclaim it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a drawing of a situation in which our invention, placed in a mans wallet, could be useful;

FIG. 2 is a side view of our invention unfolding;

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of our invention in its unfolded state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, a thief l with accomplice 2 accosts a victim 3 with the intent of stealing victims wallet 4 into which a rectangular steel compression spring 5 folded longitudinally into a plurality of brightly colored square faces 6 of like dimension has been folded. The faces are disposed side by side in contact with each other when folded together and held detachably in place within the folded wallet. Once the wallet is not kept shut by the pressure of the pocket 7 in which it is carried, it unfolds, as shown in FIG. 2, to a fully extended state, as shown in FIG. 3, thus colorfully attracting attention to thief, who drops it to avoid capture and enables victim to reclaim it.

While we have described our invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted and claimed as new is:

1. In combination:

a foldable wallet; and

a rectangular steel compression spring constituted by a plurality of brightly colored like square sections secured end to end and foldable side by side, one upon the other, said spring being normally disposed in foldedstate within the folded wallet, said spring, when the wallet is unfolded, automatically unfolding into a rectangular strip, one end of the strip being secured to the wallet.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sections differ in color. 

1. In combination: A FOLDABLE WALLET; AND A RECTANGULAR STEEL COMPRESSION SPRING CONSTITUTED BY A PLURALITY OF BRIGHTLY COLORED LIKE SQUARE SECTIONS SECURED END TO END AND FOLDABLE SIDE BY SIDE, ONE UPON THE OTHER, SAID SPRING BEING NORMALLY DISPOSED IN FOLDED STATE WITHIN THE FOLDED WALLET, SAID SPRING, WHEN THE WALLET IS UNFOLDED, AUTOMATICALLY UNFOLDING INTO A RECTANGULAR STRIP, ONE END OF THE STRIP BEING SECURED TO THE WALLET.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sections differ in color. 